Being in Western WA. I would love to have the better wet traction on my Z51.

 

Try to locate an actual tire at any price. As of last week, nobody had them in stock. I checked.

 

Granted on the road vs. track comparison, but its a great tire for those of us living in a routinely warm and dry climate. I don't know how many miles I'll get out of my super cars, and the replacement cost will be painful when it must be paid, but right now I'm pretty happy with them.

 

That was the point I was trying to make, the intent of the Z51 package is for those who "track" their C6's, why else do you need bugger brakes, re-valved shocks, stiffer springs, etc. And the Supercars are the best fit for the Z51's intent. Thats what the base car and the base GS-2 tires are for, good in the wet and the dry (as are the GSD3's). Track a Supercar vs. GSD3, and you will soon see my side that the Supercars are the better track or extreme performance tire. The GSD3's are awesomw tires, like you said, the do a lot very well, I just disagree that they are the best choice for the original intent of the Z51 package. Those that opted for the Z51 as a pure resell or bragging rights things (unlike me and GM's intent - use it to race as well), then the base GS-2 tires or the GSD3 would be a better fit, I totally agree, they just wonthold up and perform as well on the track.

 

I am on the track every summer in my cars. It is for fun I don't care if other cars pass me, it is not an ego trip. I don't run at 10/10's or even 8/10's, there are no prizes for being fastest. Sure it would be nice to have the best high performance tire around, but even the regular GY runflats are OK for normal high speed lapping. Also, because I often run in the rain (that happens very often in the midwest) I need a good tire for both wet and dry, and I am not about to lug around an extra set of rain tires and wheels.

If you glance at my avatar, that is my Boxster in a driving rainstorm going downhill into the turn 5 braking area at Road America at about 120 mph. I need a tire that I can trust in that kind of situation. On the C6 the Super Car tire would be a questionable choice for heavy braking in the wet at this corner. This is a corner at the end of a high speed straight that dips suddenly downward with a camber that wants to pitch you to the right (into a wall) as you use heavy braking. I don't think I could trust the Super car tire in the rain in that situation, but the GS D3 or the Bridgestone Pole Position SO3 would work very well.

Let's not kid ourselves, there are mighty few people here who drive near the limit on the track where the tire can make a big difference. And, I suspect most of those people are into it big time and probably run a set of dedicated track tires that are quite a bit better than the runflats.

I think the original intent of the Z51 was to build a car the is good both ontrack and offtrack. With the Super Car tires the C6 Z51 is just that, except when it rains.

 

Extra Money Tire

 

I had a non EMT version of this tire on my Z28. They were great. Nto as sticky as the supercars but much more versatile (rain, etc...) not sure that I would pay that much for them unless the life was MUCH longer than the supercars'.

 

I emailed TireRack asking when the GSD3 EMT would be available, and they replied that Goodyear has not yet given them an ETA.
I also had the standard GSD3 on a 350Z, and they were great, especially in the rain.

 

The GS-D3 EMT is the original equipment tire for the Ferrari F430.